While
pundits are debating whether "Brokeback
Mountain" may herald acceptance of gay marriage, many taxpayers
and teachers may be surprised to learn that almost a year ago the
California Teacher's Association (CTA) endorsed AB19 supporting gay
marriage. Bill Collins, Legislative Advocate for the largest teacher's
organization in the state, wrote
a letter to Assemblyman Mark Leno on February 18, 2005 in which
he said, "The state has no legitimate reason to discriminate by prohibiting
same-sex couples from marrying...use our endorsement of AB19 as may
be helpful to its enactment."

The
Capitol Resource Institute asked, "What is the CTA doing lobbying
for gay marriage? Why are union dues being spent to support this venture?
The CTA's own mission statement limits their involvement to issues
affecting teachers as professionals. How is gay marriage an issue
that professionally affects teachers?" In Collins' letter he states
that the endorsement was "voted by some 800 teacher-delegates from
throughout the state." But does this endorsement represent the majority
of California teachers?

A
Princeton poll conducted by Pew Research in July 2005 shows the
majority of Americans continue to oppose gay marriage. As well, the
majority of Californians oppose gay marriage. Five years ago over
60% voted for Prop. 22 which, "ensures ... that California will not
permit same-sex partners to validly marry within the state. Without
submitting the matter to the voters, the Legislature cannot change
this absolute refusal to recognize marriages between persons of the
same sex." More recent polls show Californians still want marriage
to stay between one man and one woman.

Concerned
that this is not the end of the battle for marriage VoteYesMarriage.com
is currently seeking to have California join the 18 other states that
have amended their constitutions to ban gay marriage and is working
to get a solid initiative on the ballot. Randy Thomasson of Campaign
for California Families stated recently, "Whether for 2006 or 2008,
VoteYesMarriage.com is devoted to giving the people the chance to
protect marriage from the clutches of the bureaucracy."

Still,
the question remains, "Does the CTA speak for the majority of California
teachers?" Does the NEA and other state teacher organizations speak
for teachers across the nation? Frankly, it is difficult to determine
as there is little documentation, research or polls, to accurately
verify where teachers stand on this issue.

There
is, however, a plethera of websites and articles pointing out the
need for teachers to be trained on how to teach about the homosexual
lifestyle, even in kindergarten, 'hate crimes' against gay students
and teachers, and statistics by pro-gay groups about the negative
attitutdes of teachers that need to be changed. For instance, according
to N.O.W. 85% of teachers oppose integrating lesbian, gay and
bisexual themes in their curricula, and GLSEN
reports 80% of prospective teachers report negative attitudes toward
gay and lesbian people.

I
would appreciate information from anyone who knows of any valid research
on where teachers stand on this issue.

In
the meantime, let me ask California teachers, and teachers from across
the United States: Are you in favor gay marriage? Do the delegates
of your teacher organizations speak for you? Vote in our poll HERE,
just scroll down to the gold box on the left sidebar. We will publish
the final results the first of February.

Subscribe to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts!

Enter Your E-Mail Address:

Will
gay marriage become a reality in California, in America? The classroom
is being used as a major battlefield for this issue. What side are
teachers standing on? Please tell us. Voters and parents want to know.

Endnote:
Currently in California
AB606 is before the state legislature, which if passed will give
the state superintendent unprecedented authority to withhold funds
to any school district that is found to have violated 'hate crimes'
as outlined in the bill.

Sharon is the President of The Center for Changing
Worldviews, and hosts Changing Worldviews TALK Radio which is heard on
KDIA AM1640 San Francisco; WITA AM1490 Knoxville,TN, nationally on Rightalk.com
and internationally on Oneplace.com. Her column appears on several online
news sites including American Daily.com, CaliforniaRepublic.org, ChronWatch.com,
Ediblog.com, MichNews.com, Newsbull.com, NewsWithviews.com, RaidersNewsUpdate.com
RenewAmerica.us and others. For further information on her lineup of guests
and topics visit: Website www.changingworldviews.com
Blogsite http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com
Contact: sharon@changingworldviews.com